


let me show you the real me (I'm not your enemy)

by breakthesewallsdown



Series: dinahsiren week 2020 [2]
Category: Green Arrow and the Canaries (TV), dinahsiren
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Pining, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24377560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakthesewallsdown/pseuds/breakthesewallsdown
Summary: Dinah gets on her feet, hating the way it feels like there’s a magnet pulling the two of them together. Like she can’t do anything but just walk closer to Laurel. It’s only now, in the light, that Dinah can properly look at her. Laurel looks tired, as if she hasn’t slept in days. Dinah almost feels bad for her.“Was any of it real?” It’s all Dinah can manage to ask. It’s the only thing she needs to know.ordinah is a vigilante and laurel is a cop. there's a lot of history between them. and a lot of feelings.
Relationships: Dinah Drake & Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel Lance
Series: dinahsiren week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758871
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52





	let me show you the real me (I'm not your enemy)

**Author's Note:**

> it's day 2 of dinahsiren week !!! 
> 
> today's prompt was "role reversal or they're both villains" so for this one I made dinah the vigilante and laurel the cop. thought it could be interesting. turned out way longer than I expected it to and took me all day to write.
> 
> also I have no experience in writing fighting scenes or whatever, since it's usually not my cup of tea so just pretend it's great for my sake :')   
> as usual this is unedited and unbeta'd, so all mistakes are my own. as they usually are. 
> 
> enjoy folks <3
> 
> • title from Enemy by Martin Kerr (please listen to this song it's such a Dinahsiren song!!!)

Dinah knows she’s screwed as soon as she hears those familiar police sirens in the distance. 

She knows running is useless, but she also finds that she doesn’t really want to run. She can feel her heart tugging at her insides to stay put, to wait. She hates it. She hates that she’s this vulnerable, that she can’t make herself stop caring. Dinah knows she shouldn’t care. She knows that caring is dangerous and that it’ll only end up in her getting hurt. She never meant to let it get this far. 

But she’s always been a sucker for cocky smiles and snarky comebacks. 

So when the sirens are just around the corner of the warehouse she finds herself in, Dinah climbs behind a stack of metal plates and hides in the shadows. Dinah needs to make sure she’s not being ambushed if she wants to confront the other woman. 

The hairs on her arms stand on end as she waits, eyeing the room around her, waiting for any movement or sound to give the police officer away. Dinah can feel the muscles in her legs burn as she stays crouched down. 

When there’s soft footsteps to her right, Dinah leans forward just enough to see. There’s three police officers walking towards her, two men she’s never seen before and one woman. It’s her. Dinah’s heart flutters in her chest at the sight of her. 

Laurel Lance. 

They’re not friends. Anything but that, really. Laurel’s been trying to capture her for years, but Dinah always manages to outsmart her. She always manages to get away. The city doesn’t want any vigilantes roaming the streets at night, people think they’re dangerous. Dinah knows that Laurel doesn’t think that way. She knows that, deep down, Laurel thinks that what Dinah’s doing is a good thing. 

Because, really, all Dinah wants is to keep this city safe. To take down bad guys and make sure the innocent people don’t get hurt. It’s just that not everybody can appreciate what she’s doing and the SCPD has been hunting her ever since Dinah started this. 

And they play it dirty. They have tried too many things to capture Dinah, to take her in. Dinah thinks that sometimes Laurel lets her off the hook. Especially the last few months. 

Dinah will admit, in the beginning she wasn't a very good vigilante. She felt mostly like a villain. Killing people, hunting them down, making them suffer. She could tell that Laurel hated her. It was obvious that Laurel just wanted to bring her down. 

She realizes now that what she was doing wasn’t good. She was using her metahuman powers to hurt others, not protect them. Laurel made her see that. It’s just that she can’t just let that part of her go. She can’t just give up on protecting people now that she’s learned how to do it. 

Sometimes it’s still hard and she still feels the need to hurt someone, even if they don’t necessarily deserve it, but she’s learning how to control that part of her. 

And when Dinah thinks about it, the biggest reason she’s redeemed herself is Laurel. Over the years they’ve fought too many times - Dinah has lost count - and they’ve hurt each other over and over and over again. But Dinah is also sure that Laurel could’ve taken her in plenty of times if she really wanted to. 

Dinah keeps wondering why she didn’t. 

Over time Dinah has realized that there’s something softer about Laurel. Sometimes it’s in the way she looks at Dinah, sometimes it’s in the way that Laurel tells her to run. Ever so often it’s about how gentle Laurel is with her when she’s injured. 

On some occasions, after a bad mission, she ends up at Laurel’s place, knocking on her front door a she bleeds onto the wooden floor of the hallway. And then Laurel will usher her inside and clean her up and Dinah will leave with her heart racing in her chest and her cheeks flushed from the other woman’s touch. 

It’s messed up.

Dinah’s thoughts get pulled away from those memories by the clinging of a metal pipe falling to the floor. Her body tenses as she pushes herself against the metal plates she’s hiding behind, trying to make herself as small as possible. 

“You guys head west, I’ll check this area out.” 

Her voice is harsh and confident, leaving no room for her agents to talk back. Dinah watches them go, leaving Laurel by herself in the dark room. Dinah thinks Laurel might hear her heart beat if she listens close enough. 

Dinah watches how she walks around. Slowly, confidently, stealthily. Dinah likes watching her. Over the years she’s watched Laurel so many times, for so long, and she’s learned so much about her. 

Like how Laurel’s mostly just pretending to be this cold, distant person. She actually cares a lot and Dinah’s been on the receiving end of it quite a few times. Dinah’s also noticed that Laurel takes her coffee black, with two sugars. No cream. Laurel is also a cat person, sadly. And when one of her favorite songs start playing she will turn the volume up just a bit and hum along quietly. 

Dinah hates that she knows all this. 

She hates that she knows Laurel’s favorite songs and her favorite color and her favorite breakfast food. She hates that Laurel has seen her vulnerable, that Laurel has seen her sad and crying. Dinah hates that Laurel makes her feel things when she shouldn’t. 

Dinah shouldn’t feel this way about someone who’s hunting her. 

But she does. 

Laurel is close now. So close she could see Dinah if she’d just turn her head. And honestly, Dinah thinks that Laurel knows she’s here. She’s pretty sure that this is a part of her plan. Dinah doesn’t know what the plan is, but she’s sure there is one. 

“I know you’re here,” Laurel says, voice low. 

Now that she’s so close Dinah can make out her face. Her eyes are focused, narrowed, angry. Dinah figured she’d be angry. Laurel has told her multiple times to not go after this guy, to just stay out of it. He’s dangerous and not to mess with. For a second Dinah thought Laurel was warning her because she cares about her, but then she figured out that the only reason Laurel wanted her to stay out of it was simply because she didn’t want to have to focus on _both_ of them. 

Dinah keeps quiet, her eyes never leaving Laurel’s form. 

“Come on, Drake.” Laurel mutters, “The sooner you show yourself the sooner we can get this over with.” 

She knows what’s coming next, but she goes along with it anyway. Standing up from where she was crouching down on the floor, Laurel’s head turns her way almost immediately. There’s a flicker of _something_ in her eyes as they look at each other and Dinah hates the way it makes her feel. She hates the way it makes her feel weak in the knees. 

“There you are, songbird.” 

Dinah rolls her eyes as she takes a few steps forward, still out of Laurel’s reach. She doesn’t say anything. She rarely does. Laurel doesn’t need her to, she’s perfectly capable of reading her just like this. It’s part of what makes this so fun.

Laurel looks her up and down, takes note of the way her pants are ripped and she’s got several cuts across her arms and abdomen. Dinah doesn’t even feel them anymore. She knows she’ll only start to feel the pain once she’s alone and once her thoughts take over. 

“Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?” Laurel asks, hand going to rest on her holster. 

She knows her gun doesn’t have anything against Dinah’s cry. They both know that Dinah could blast her through a wall if she wants to- if she _has_ to. But they also both know that Dinah won’t. 

Laurel knows the effect she has on her. She knows what she has to do and say to make Dinah give in. It’s a dangerous game they’ve been playing the last few months and the longer it drags on, the less Dinah feels like it’s a game. 

Dinah’s hands ball at her sides and that’s enough of an answer for Laurel. She dashes forward, fists coming at Dinah quickly, yet calculated. Dinah dodges them, blocks Laurel off. She takes several steps back to make sure she’s out of Laurel’s reach, but when Laurel keeps throwing punches at her and Dinah feels the metal plates poking in her back she figures it’s time to fight back.   
It’s a mess of punches and kicks and shoves and she manages to hit Laurel in the face a couple of times, but the fight is draining her more than she thought it would and her side is burning from the cuts she has and none of this is helping her case. Laurel hits her in the stomach, making her double over in pain. She hates it. She hates that Laurel knows how to make her suffer. 

But she won’t go down without a fight. 

Taking a deep breath, Dinah gets it together and with a few kicks she manages to overpower Laurel. They lock eyes just as Dinah kicks her feet from under her, making Laurel tumble to the ground. She grabs Laurel’s arms and spins her around to she ends up with her back against the metal plates she was hiding behind earlier. 

When Laurel looks up at Dinah her eyes are angry and there’s a fire in them that Dinah’s rarely seen. 

“I told you to stay out of it.” She hisses, trying to pull her arms out of Dinah’s grip. 

Dinah grins evily. “When do I ever listen to you?” 

Laurel tugs and thrusts, but Dinah straddles her lap and pins her against the ground, not leaving any room for Laurel to leave. Their faces are so close and if things were different Dinah would kiss her. But it’s too complicated and they would never work out and Laurel just doesn’t see her that way. She never would. 

Dinah shakes that thought out of her head. She can’t afford to think about Laurel as anything other than her enemy. Not anymore. Not ever again.

“You should’ve.” Laurel mutters, the fight slowly leaving her body as she realizes their position. “You know I don’t have any other choice than to bring you in, Dinah.”

It’s the use of her name that angers Dinah the most. Laurel never calls her that. Rarely. Only when they’re alone and they let their walls come down and only when they can pretend that whatever happened didn’t happen. Her grip tightens on Laurel’s wrists and she growls. 

“You’re not going to.” Dinah says, voice low and angry. 

Laurel chuckles, her eyes softening. “This time I will.” 

Dinah just shakes her head and presses herself down firmer on Laurel’s lap. She’s still got the upper hand. Laurel’s lackeys are nowhere in sight and Laurel is powerless. She’s sure the metal is digging into Laurel’s back and shoulders and it hurts, but even if it does Laurel has a great poker face. 

“What are you gonna do, pretty bird?” Laurel asks, twisting her body again to try and break free from Dinah’s grip. 

Dinah just pushes her further into the plates, not caring if it hurts her. The way Laurel is looking at her is making her go insane. She feels like her heart’s set on fire and her body is tingling in places where it shouldn’t and she absolutely hates it. That softness is back in her eyes and Dinah wants it to leave and never come back. 

“I could make you suffer, Lance.” Is all Dinah manages to say. 

Laurel’s eyes darken and Dinah hates knowing that both their minds just went _there_. She hates that Laurel has this much power over her, that she makes her feel so many things. Laurel shifts her hips a little and all it does is make Dinah more aware of the fact that their thighs are touching and there’s barely any space between their bodies. 

Laurel’s voice is low when she speaks. “Give me your worst.” 

Dinah can feel her resolve break as she hears the crack in Laurel’s voice. Her hands move from around Laurel’s wrists to her cheeks as she grabs them firmly, not leaving any room for softness and tenderness, and she kisses her. It’s harsh and angry and there’s nothing loving about it. Dinah kisses her and she can feel Laurel tense underneath her. But then Laurel lowers her arms and her hands move to grip Dinah’s hips to hold her in place as she starts kissing her back. 

Dinah’s whole body is on fire, her hands itching to explore Laurel’s body, wanting to touch her and caress her and… love her. The thought doesn’t scare her as much as it should, doesn’t terrify her like it did before. Maybe it’s the way that Laurel is kissing her back or the way she’s holding onto Dinah’s body. 

Laurel deepens the kiss just at the same time as her hands move from Dinah’s hips to her waist, up her sides until her hands tangle in Dinah’s curls. She tugs harshly at Dinah’s hair making her whimper against her mouth. There’s a grin on Laurel’s face as she kisses Dinah again. 

Dinah moves her hands from Laurel’s cheeks to her neck, fingers dragging across her skin to make her squirm. Laurel is panting beneath her, fingers tangling in her hair as she drags her face back to kiss Dinah’s neck. Dinah’s body goes slack as Laurel nips at her skin, her hands coming down from her hair to hold her. 

Dinah doesn’t even think about their surroundings anymore. All she can think about is Laurel kissing her and touching her. All her senses are overwhelmed by Laurel and all she _wants_ is Laurel.

It’s only when Dinah feels her hands being pulled behind her body and cold metal around her wrists, followed by a _click_ , that she realizes she’s fucked. 

Laurel holds onto her cuffed hands as she forces her up and Dinah wobbles on her knees. She knows her first instinct should be to be angry, to fight back, to try and get out of these cuffs. She should break free and get out of here and Canary cry Laurel across the room. 

But she can’t find it in her. 

Laurel is looking at her like she’s been planning this all along, no longer any trace of the kisses they just shared. She seems distant and cold and almost heartless and all Dinah can do is stand there and look at her, no longer any fight in her. Her heart is still racing from kissing Laurel and it’s all she can think about. 

“I got her,” Laurel says into her earpiece. 

Dinah doesn’t even pay attention. She just stands there, staring at the floor. Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are burning, but she refuses to cry. She refuses to let any emotion show and when Laurel shoves her forwards towards the exit Dinah shakes her off and quickens her pace to stay just out of Laurel’s reach. She can’t handle Laurel touching her right now. Not after… all that. 

The two other police officers are waiting by the car when they exit the building and they look at Dinah as if she’s the biggest criminal walking the earth. She doesn’t spare them a glance, just deciding on getting into the backseat of the car as one of them holds the door open for her. The other guy goes to touch her back to guide her into the car, but she just snarls a don’t at him before fully stepping into the car. 

Laurel goes to sit in the driver’s seat, leaving one guy to sit in the passenger seat and the other next to Dinah. He sits a good end away from her and Dinah is grateful. 

She can’t believe she let Laurel play her like this. She should’ve known this was all part of Laurel’s plan. She should’ve figured it out sooner. Laurel isn’t the kind of person to just give up or give in. She’d never let her feelings take over on a mission like this. Dinah can’t believe she walked right into her trap. 

They’re at a stoplight when Dinah looks up, immediately meeting Laurel’s gaze in the rearview mirror. There’s something unreadable in her eyes and it makes Dinah’s heart ache. Her eyes are softer than they were back in the warehouse and Dinah has to try her best to tear her gaze away. She can’t do this anymore. 

The rest of the night is a blur. She’s being guided into the precinct to the cells, but she doesn’t even register who’s doing the guiding or what they’re telling her. Her cuffs come off as they push her into a cell and it’s only then that Dinah realizes what’s happening. 

It’s over. 

She can’t believe Laurel actually did this. Laurel ruined her and no matter how angry Dinah is, or should be, all she can think about is how much it hurts. They leave her by herself, the cell closing harshly as it clicks into place. The silence that follows is deafening. 

Dinah sits down on the bed, her mask itching at her face. She can’t take it off. They can’t know who she is. Laurel knowing who she really is and knowing her name is already bad enough as it is. If Laurel really decides to throw her under the bus Dinah knows she’s royally screwed. 

There’s a guard at her cell and Dinah’s pretty sure they both know it’s useless. She still has her Canary cry. She could still get out of this place. But she won’t. She’s tired of running and she’s tired of playing this game with Laurel. It’s exhausting and it hurts and all Dinah wants to do is help. 

She knows they got off on the wrong foot. She knows she’s made mistakes, a lot of them. She’s hurt people and she’s hurt Laurel, but she’s really been trying to redeem herself. Especially lately. 

But she figured things had to come to an end sometime. 

Laying down on the bed, Dinah’s mind wanders towards Laurel. She can’t believe she kissed her. She really told herself not to give in. She didn’t want to let her walls down, to be this fragile in front of her. But the way Laurel was looking at her was too much and Dinah just lost it. The things she’s been feeling for Laurel ever since they met are too much for her to handle. 

She hates it. 

She hates it so, so much.

Her eyes burn, from exhaustion and from the tears threatening to spill. But she doesn’t want to give in. She rubs her eyes harshly as she takes a deep breath. God, she doesn’t want to be here. She shouldn’t be here. If she’d just done what needed to be done she could’ve been home by now. 

It’s just when Dinah allows herself to shut her eyes that there’s a door opening somewhere followed by soft footsteps that come to a halt in front of her cell. 

“Can you give us a minute?” 

Laurel. Dinah can hear the security guard grunt before he walks away. Dinah doesn’t know what to expect. She honestly wasn’t expecting anything. Let alone for Laurel to come see her. 

“Dinah.” 

Dinah thinks about not moving, about just not bothering to react in any way. But there’s something about the way Laurel says her name that makes her sit up in a heartbeat. Their eyes lock and Laurel looks so tired that Dinah almost feels bad for her. 

But at least Laurel gets to go home and sleep in her own bed tonight. 

Laurel’s hands are wrapped around the bars of her cell. So tight her knuckles are turning white. Dinah can tell she’s nervous. She just doesn’t know why. 

“What?” 

“I’m sorry.” 

And Dinah laughs. She just lets out the biggest burst of laughter she can, because this is just not happening. She can’t believe Laurel has the guts to stand there and apologize when she knew damn well what she was doing. Dinah can’t be mad at her for doing her job, she never would be, but she can be hurt and angry about the fact that Laurel used her feelings against her and took advantage of her. 

The tears that were previously threatening to roll down her cheeks end up doing just that, but she doesn’t care anymore. It’s all over anyway. Her laughter dies down on her lips as she looks at Laurel, tears rolling down her face quickly. Quietly. It hurts to look at her. 

Laurel seems to be taken aback by Dinah’s reaction, because she pulls away from the bars as if they’d burned her and she turns her head to look away. Dinah sighs and rolls her eyes, wiping her cheeks. 

“Don’t bother, Laurel.” Is all Dinah ends up saying. 

There’s nothing left for her to say anyway. Everything is said and done and Dinah’s life is never going to go back to how it used to be. Laurel ruined it all for her. 

“I didn’t have any other choice.” Laurel says softly, looking back at Dinah. 

Dinah shakes her head to herself, the lump in her throat doubling in size at the look Laurel sends her. She seems almost as hurt as Dinah, but Dinah doesn’t believe her for a second. She’s seen first-hand how good Laurel is at twisting things in her favor just a little while ago. Dinah’s lips still tingle as she thinks about it. 

She doesn’t say anything while Laurel stares at her. She wouldn’t know what to say. That she forgives Laurel? That it’s okay? It’s so far from okay and Dinah just wishes she’d leave her alone. She doesn’t have to come rub it in her face that she’s finally won. That it’s over. 

Dinah hates that she still wants to comfort Laurel. She doesn’t want to feel the need to be close to her. She balls her hands into fists to keep herself from reaching out, nails digging into the skin of her palms. Dinah can’t believe how much the betrayal hurts. 

“There was no other way,” Laurel says, making Dinah look at her, “I told you to stay out of it for a reason.” 

Dinah gets on her feet, hating the way it feels like there’s a magnet pulling the two of them together. Like she can’t do anything but just walk closer to Laurel. It’s only now, in the light, that Dinah can properly look at her. Laurel looks tired, as if she hasn’t slept in days. Dinah almost feels bad for her. 

“Was any of it real?” It’s all Dinah can manage to ask. It’s the only thing she needs to know. 

She doesn’t care what’s going to happen to her. Maybe they’ll lock her up forever. All Dinah cares about is knowing if whatever was going on between them was real or just a game to Laurel. It’s all that matters. Because knowing it wasn’t really anything would shatter her beyond belief. 

Their eyes stay locked on each other for what feels like eternity. Laurel is looking at her, eyes wide and scared and almost as if she’s about to run. Dinah tries her best to look indifferent, to make Laurel think like it’s not affecting her in any way. 

But Dinah knows that Laurel can tell by the way her voice shakes. Laurel knows just because of the look in Dinah’s eyes. Haunted and hurt. Dinah hates it. She realizes she hates a lot about the situation, except Laurel. She could never hate Laurel. And that’s the thing she hates most of all. 

“Dinah.” 

She doesn’t need more of an answer than that, really. The way Laurel whispers her name, as if she’s begging her to not do this. To not make her say it. Dinah’s heart cracks on the spot and she takes a step back out of instinct. She knows Laurel couldn’t reach her, even if she wanted to, but she wants to be as far away from her as possible. 

Dinah can feel a fresh wave of tears pooling in her eyes, but she doesn’t care. 

“You know it was bound to end this way,” Laurel says, voice hardening. “We never could’ve been anything. You know that.” 

Dinah shakes her head. More to herself than to Laurel. She can’t believe she’s been this stupid. She can’t believe that she really thought they were getting closer, that maybe one day they could’ve been friends and… more. Dinah let her heart betray her and she’ll never forgive herself for that. 

Laurel’s hands are trembling, Dinah can tell. As if she wants to reach out. As if she wants to hold Dinah and keep her close. But Dinah knows she won’t. It was never meant to happen and she’s going to have to learn how to live with that. Dinah takes a deep breath before she speaks. 

“I know I’m supposed to be the bad guy,” she says, voice quiet and hurt, “but that’s evil. Even for you.” 

She looks at Laurel one more time, taking in the pain flashing through her gaze, before she turns around and walks back towards the bed. She can feel Laurel’s eyes burning into her back as she still looks at her, she can hear the sharp intake of breath as Dinah lays down on the bed with her back towards her. 

“Dinah.” 

It almost sounds like a plea, but Dinah refuses to give in this time. She’s already been too vulnerable today. She’s already shown too much of her heart. She keeps her back firmly turned towards Laurel as tears stream down her face. She tries to not let it show, because she knows Laurel is still there. 

It hurts to know that none of it was ever real. That nothing ever meant anything to her. Dinah has never been this heartbroken before. The ache in her chest is too much to bear and she can hardly breathe. There’s something about the way it hurts that makes her want to scream. It makes her want to punch something. 

She’s angry. Mostly at herself, but also at Laurel. 

“I’m sorry, Dinah.” 

Dinah can barely hear her over her own whimpers and cries, but she does. It only makes her cry more. So when Laurel starts walking away from her cell she can’t keep in the sob that escapes her throat. Laurel’s footsteps pause for a moment, but then the door opens and closes and Dinah’s left alone. 

She curls herself into a ball and cries, never having felt more pathetic than right now. 

She’s the Black Canary. She’s fierce and strong and she doesn’t take shit from anyone, yet here she is crying her eyes out over a woman who just broke her heart. She never thought she could end up like this. She never should’ve let Laurel get this close to her. 

Dinah cries herself to sleep that night. 

**

Dinah gets woken up by her cell door opening. 

Her body feels like she just got run over by a truck and then got pushed off a cliff. She forgets where she is for a second. But it’s after a short moment that last night’s events start coming back to her. 

Her heart hurts. 

It’s then that she realizes it’s one of the other cops from last night standing there. He looks at Dinah as if she could attack him any moment, but all she does is raise her eyebrow at him. He tells her to get up and follow him, which she reluctantly does. He doesn’t cuff her, which is weird, but she doesn’t question it. She wonders if he knows how easy it would be for her to escape. 

But then they walk into the precinct where the Captain of Police is waiting, Laurel standing next to her. Dinah doesn’t look at her. She refuses to meet her gaze, instead just staring the Captain in the eye. 

Dinah doesn’t know what’s happening. All she knows is that they’re telling her that they managed to arrest Saunders last night after months of tracking him. The Captain also tells her that _Laurel_ said it was mainly thanks to her that they managed to capture him. Dinah can’t believe what she’s hearing. Laurel was putting in a good word for her? After everything? 

She risks a glance at the other woman now, noticing the way she’s looking back at Dinah. It’s soft and almost apologetic and Dinah hates everything about it. 

“We would like you to work with the SCPD from now on.” 

And, wait. What? 

Dinah looks back at the woman in front of her, not believing a word of it. Now they want her to work with them? What is going on? Her face must show her confusion, because the woman smiles and holds out a stack of papers for Dinah. 

“We just need you to sign these. It’s an accord where you agree to work with us and to debrief after every mission. We can let you go after that.” The woman says. “It’s either this or never putting on that suit ever again.” 

“Can I think about it?” 

“We can give you 24 hours.” 

Dinah nods, feeling grateful she at least gets to think it over. Her gaze wanders back towards Laurel and find her still looking at her. There’s a hopeful look in her eyes as if this is what she’s been waiting for all along. As if this was part of the plan. Dinah doubts it was. 

They let her go soon after that and Dinah quickly makes her way out of the precinct. It's just when she’s outside the doors and down the steps that she hears a soft voice calling her name behind her. Dinah automatically stops in her tracks. 

“Dinah. Wait.” 

Dinah turns around at the foot of the stairs, meeting Laurel’s gaze as she comes to a halt on top of the stairs. She almost looks shy and Dinah wonders why. It’s not like there’s anything left to say or do. It’s over and Dinah can either decide to work with the SCPD or not. She’s not sure which option she’s going to go for. She doesn’t think she can handle being a vigilante and still having to see Laurel, but she also doesn’t think she can handle never putting on the suit ever again. 

“I’m sorry,” Laurel says again. 

Dinah shakes her head, anger bubbling up in her chest, “Stop it, Laurel.” 

“No. You don’t get it. I-”

“I don’t _care_.” Dinah shoots back. “I just want to go home. Leave me alone. Please.” 

Laurel looks like she’s about to say something else, but Dinah doesn’t give her the time to speak up. She rushes towards the back alley next to the precinct and manages to find her way home unseen. It’s still early enough that barely any people are out there and she’s thankful. She can’t wait to get home and jump into her shower. 

**

It’s later that night when she gets a call from the SCPD that she realizes it won’t be that easy to make a decision. They tell her that they know they gave her 24 hours, but they could really use her help tonight. 

So she puts on her suit and makes her way over to the precinct. 

It’s a drug deal and it’s going to be a mess. That’s for sure. They send Dinah in first by herself with backup waiting outside. Laurel is one of them and Dinah hates the thought of it, hates the thought of Laurel getting hurt. 

Things go relatively well. Dinah manages to round up most of the guys before hell breaks loose and they start shooting. Dinah cries them unconcious just as the SCPD barges in to arrest them. Dinah watches how they round in on the guys, cuffing them and dragging them outside. Laurel is in charge once again and when their eyes meet across the room Dinah can’t help but shiver. 

Dinah thinks they have it in the pocket until someone starts shooting and there’s screams everywhere. Dinah doesn’t know where to go first. She doesn’t know what to do, but there’s still people shooting and then someone screams her name before she’s being pushed aside just as a gunshot goes off. 

Dinah shakes herself out of it and looks down, Laurel laying on the floor at her feet. She’s clutching her arm as she cusses and there’s blood seeping through her fingers. Crap. 

Dinah crouches down, holding Laurel by the back of her neck to look at her. She’s half on Dinah’s lap as she meets her gaze, a dumb smile on her face. Dinah rolls her eyes as her fingers tangle in Laurel’s hair. 

“Why did you do that?” Dinah asks, angry but scared. 

Laurel shrugs lamely, but winces afterwards. Dinah’s free hand goes to look at her arm and she’s relieved to see it’s just a graze. She’s still bleeding and it worries her, but she hides it well enough. Behind her they’re finishing up arresting everyone, including the guy who shot Laurel, and Dinah feels like she can breathe. 

“You should go help them.” Laurel mutters through clenched teeth. She’s in pain. 

“You’re hurting.” Dinah says, not really giving a decent response. 

Laurel tenses in Dinah’s hold, her hand dropping from where she was still clutching her arm to rest on top of Dinah’s, leaving a small trail of blood. 

“So are you.” 

Dinah shakes her head. She knows what Laurel is talking about, but doesn’t want to talk about it. Not now and possibly not ever. So she helps Laurel sit up and takes her hands off her, before calling out behind her that they need a medic. She should’ve probably done that sooner. 

“Dinah.” Laurel whispers. “Please.” 

“Let it go, Laurel.” Dinah says angrily. She can’t believe Laurel keeps making things harder than they should be. “I’m fine.” 

And again Laurel opens her mouth to say something, but again she gets cut off. This time by a medic rushing over to them and ushering Dinah away so they can take care of Laurel. 

Dinah stands up and looks at the scene in front of her for a bit longer. Laurel tries to get her to meet her gaze, tries to get Dinah to look at her, but she won’t. With one last nod, to no one in particular, Dinah rushes out of the building. 

She can’t be there. She can’t work with the SCPD and she can’t work with Laurel. Not after everything they’ve put each other through and especially not after the way Laurel has hurt her. It’s too difficult. 

If that means Dinah can never put on her Canary suit ever again, so be it. 

She can’t handle having to catch bad guys with Laurel after being chased by her herself. It’s too much. She can’t just pretend like none of it ever happened. As if Laurel hasn’t been trying to take her in for years. As if Laurel didn’t actually arrest her just last night. 

It’s too much to bear and she won’t do it. She can’t. Dinah hates that this is the end of the Black Canary, but she’s done prioritizing everything else above her own feelings. She’s not doing it anymore. 

As soon as she gets home she tears it off her body and throws it across her living room. It ends up knocking over a vase, but she doesn’t care. Her masks follows suit. She’s stood in the middle of her living room in her underwear and a tank top, her Canary makeup harsh on her face. 

As she washes it off in the bathroom she feels like a whole new person. Looking at herself in the mirror Dinah can finally see how this has been wearing her out. She’s exhausted and tired and she just wants it all to stop.

She wishes she could’ve met Laurel under different circumstances. Maybe that way they could’ve worked out. Maybe they could’ve been friends or maybe when Dinah would’ve kissed her they could’ve made it work. 

But instead Dinah is looking at herself in the mirror and she’s wondering how she ever let it get this far.

She decides to take a shower once the makeup’s off her face. The water is warm on her body and it feels comforting. Just what she needs. She feels like this load is coming off her shoulders and the water is just washing it away. She lets the water run over her face, her shoulders and down her back and she just stands there for what feels like hours.

And she cries. 

For the second time in less than a day. 

But it feels freeing and Dinah doesn’t hate herself when she steps out of the shower fifteen minutes later. She feels like maybe she can take on the world again. She doesn’t feel good, but she feels better. And that, she thinks, is something at least. 

The evening passes in a blur. 

Her mind keeps going back to the moment Laurel pushed her out of that bullet’s way and ended up getting hurt herself because of it. Dinah’s still not sure why she did that. Why would Laurel do that? It doesn’t make any sense at all and Dinah isn’t sure what to think.

She’s just so confused. 

Glancing around her apartment, Dinah goes to pick her suit up from the floor. Just as she’s about to hang it over the back of her couch there’s a knock on her front door. Rolling her eyes to herself, Dinah knows it’s probably Felicity who decided to come check on her. Her friend has always been the mom-friend and she’s never really liked Dinah being out in the field like that. 

But when she opens the door, suit still in hand, it’s not Felicity that’s looking back at her. 

It’s Laurel. 

Dinah is tempted to slam the door shut and to never open it again. But her body won’t listen to her mind. Her hand keeps holding onto the door, grip tightening as her body is torn between closing the door and moving aside to let Laurel in. 

Dinah fears that if she does let Laurel in she’ll do it in more ways than one. 

“Can we talk? Please?” 

Dinah hesitates. She’s really got nothing left to say, but apparently Laurel does. So she moves aside and tilts her head, letting her know she can come in. Laurel glances down at the floor as she shuffles past Dinah, too afraid to look her in the eye. 

After closing the door behind her, Dinah turns around. She realizes she still has her suit in her hands so she walks back towards her kitchen table to drape it over a chair. She hates looking at it now. It reminds her of everything that’s happened in the past years. Especially the last day. 

Laurel spins on her heel in the middle of the room, awkwardly looking around. She’s never really been here before. She’s stood on Dinah’s doorstep a couple of times, but Dinah doesn’t remember her ever coming in. 

“Your place is nice.” Laurel says, trying to make conversation. 

Dinah sighs. “What are you doing here, Laurel?” 

Laurel’s shoulders drop at Dinah’s tone of voice. She looks so small compared to earlier. Dinah wonders what’s going on inside her brain. She figures she’s not sure she wants to know. 

“I just wanted to apologize.” 

“You already have. Multiple times.” Dinah reminds her, annoyance dripping in her tone. 

Laurel takes a small step closer, rubbing her hands on her jeans, “I know.”

“So what else is there to say?” Dinah asks. She justs wants this to be over. 

Laurel frustratedly runs her hand over her face as she takes a deep breath. Dinah just looks at her. Her heart is beating out of her chest and still, even after everything, all she wants is to kiss Laurel. 

She’s been thinking about kissing Laurel for so long and after finally getting to know what that feels like she just wants to do it again. And again and again and again. She just wishes Laurel could let it go and give her a chance to move on. 

“I just hate how we left things, I thought we could-”

“We could what?” Dinah asks, cutting her off. “You fucked me over, Laurel. I know you were doing your job. I _know_ that, but you didn’t have to play me like that.”

“I told you to stay out of it.” 

“And I never do!”

Dinah can see the tension gathering in Laurel’s posture. The atmosphere in the room is bordering on angry and Dinah really doesn’t have the energy for this. Her body is aching, her brain is fried and she just wants to sleep the pain away. 

“You didn’t give me another choice, D.” 

The nickname does it. Laurel has only called her that a handful of times and she’s not sure how she feels about it. It feels too intimate for what they are. What they have. It feels like Laurel cares about her, more than she should. 

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” 

“Dinah, come on.” 

“Please just leave.” Dinah mutters, rubbing her temples. “I can’t do this.” 

Laurel closes the distance between them until they’re within reach of each other and Dinah can’t help but look at her. She’s just so beautiful. She tries to look away, tries to look anywhere but Laurel’s face, but she can’t. Laurel is looking at her like she’s the most beautiful piece of art she’s ever seen and it makes Dinah nervous. 

“Hurting you is the last thing I wanted to do, Dinah,” Laurel admits. “All I’ve ever wanted was to keep you safe.” 

Dinah’s heart clenches in her chest. “Shut up.” 

“I know what I said and I know I hurt you,” Laurel says softly, voice dropping to a whisper, “and I’m sorry. I really am.”

“If I say it’s okay can we just let it go and move on?” Dinah asks, desperate for this conversation to end. 

“No,” Laurel mutters, “Because it’s not okay. It’s far from okay and I hate it.” 

“Laurel. Please.” 

Dinah runs a frustrated hand through her hair, exhaling heavily as she looks Laurel in the eye, never once breaking eye contact. Laurel’s looking right back at her and she seems determined. As if she won’t leave before she gets her point across. Dinah thinks it’s going to be a long night.

Laurel sighs. “You don’t get it, do you?” 

“I get it just fine.” Dinah shoots back. “You don’t feel the same way and that’s okay. Just, please, stop bringing it up.” 

“I never _said_ that.” Laurel says, voice rising as her hands reach for Dinah’s. 

Dinah pulls away. “You didn’t need to.” 

“Can you stop acting like a child and just listen to what I have to say?” 

Laurel’s losing her patience. Dinah can tell by the crinkle between her eyebrows and the way she’s talking. Hurriedly, as if she’s running out of time. She’s tense and nervous and Dinah kind of likes how she’s able to affect her. Deciding to listen to Laurel, Dinah keeps quiet and just nods. Laurel seems to gather herself for a second before she speaks.

“You scare me. And not in the way that I think you’d ever hurt me, but in the way that you could actually make me happy if I let you,” Laurel admits, blush rising on her cheeks. “And when you asked me about this, about us, I panicked.” 

Dinah doesn’t know what to say or do, so she just stands there, letting Laurel grab her hands and intertwine their fingers. It happens so naturally, so gently, that Dinah feels like they’ve been doing it forever. 

“I was never supposed to feel like this about you, D,” Laurel tells her softly, “You were never supposed to be this important to me. I was supposed to take you in years ago and leave it at that. But you barged your way into my life and into my heart and you made it your home.” 

She can’t believe this is happening. She can’t believe Laurel is here and she’s confessing her feelings for her after the days they’ve had. A smile is about to break out on Dinah’s face, but she still feels like it’s too good to be true. She still feels like Laurel is playing a prank on her. She just can’t believe it. 

“What?” Dinah breathes, hands tightening around Laurel’s. 

“Haven’t you figured it out by now?” Laurel asks, “Why I let you go all those times? Why I kept patching you up while I could’ve just let you take care of it on your own?” 

“I- I never really thought about it.” Dinah mutters, clearly lying. 

Laurel lets go of one of Dinah’s hands to tuck a curl back behind her ear. There’s a soft smile on her face as she lets her hand linger on Dinah’s cheek. Dinah shivers. 

“I love you,” Laurel confesses, “I am in love with you.” 

Dinah’s eyes widen, not quite realizing what’s happening. But then Laurel fully cups her cheeks with both hands and rests their foreheads together, her breath hitting Dinah’s lips with every exhale. It’s so intimate and soft and the complete opposite of the night before. Dinah feels like her world’s about to spin upside down. 

Laurel laughs softly. Dinah can feel it more than she can hear it. There’s a moment where they’re just breathing each other in, but then Laurel leans in and kisses Dinah and her body acts out of instinct in a second. Her arms wrap around Laurel’s waist to pull her fully against her, leaving no space between them. Laurel presses herself against Dinah’s chest as she kisses her. It’s so soft and gentle and loving that Dinah feels like she could cry. 

“I love you, too.” Dinah whispers as she pulls away just enough to catch her breath. “I love you so much.” 

“I know,” Laurel says between soft kisses. “And I am so sorry that I hurt you.” 

“It’s okay.”

Laurel shakes her head, “It’s not. I know it’s not. But I will make it up to you. I promise, Dinah.” 

Dinah now fully pulls away, her hands soft on Laurel’s hips. “Just you being here is enough, Laurel.” 

Laurel softens against her, her smile widening. Dinah can’t help but kiss her again. Because now she finally can. She knows she can, because Laurel is in love with her. So she kisses her again and when she can feel Laurel smile against her lips she can’t help the laugh escaping her throat. She never would’ve imagined things end like this. It’s the best feeling. 

Laurel pecks her lips a few times before pulling back, suddenly a more serious look on her face. Dinah is worried for a second, until Laurel talks and eases her worries.

“I know it’s all very complicated between us and I know this whole deal with the SCPD might complicate things even more, but I want to be with you, okay? No matter what you decide to do.” 

A smile breaks out on Dinah’s face as she looks at Laurel. She looks sure of herself and of what this is between them. No longer like the woman that stood by her cell the night before. Dinah knows that was only just yesterday, but it feels like ages ago. She knows they have a lot to talk about and a lot to figure out, but Laurel loves her and that’s all that matters to her now. 

“Are you sure?” Dinah asks.

“I’ve never been more sure about anything else in my life.”

**Author's Note:**

> see y'all tomorrow for day three. im so excited about that one. 
> 
> take care of yourself. <3


End file.
